Betty Markland

I'll Send You Away Betty Markland

Where is away, when your birth mother doesn't want you, and your adoptive mother doesn't want you either? Betty Markland was born in 1927 to an unmarried woman who was young, scared, and coerced into handing her baby over the fence for the neighbor to raise. Her childhood was filled with fears and hardships that no child should ever have to face. With an unloving, resentful adoptive mother who threatened to send her away, and a violent, unstable stepfather, life was very difficult for the young girl that no one wanted. Still, Betty experienced some happy moments and good times while growing up in rural Michigan, and received support and encouragement from concerned teachers as well as adults from the county 4-H club. Betty tells the remarkable story of her childhood in a series of poignant vignettes that also chronicle daily life in 1930's and '40's rural America. Honest, yet written with grace and humor, I'll Send You Away is ultimately a story of hope.